Kellogg School of Management Prof. Dean Karlan resigned from his role as chief economist at the U.S. Agency for International Development Feb. 25, bringing an end to his work after more than two years with the agency.
Karlan, who is also the founder of nonprofit group Innovations for Poverty Action, was sworn into office on Nov. 15, 2022 to serve as USAID’s top economist and expert economic analyst. USAID provides foreign assistance to developing countries and has historically served as the largest single aid provider across the globe.
This decades-long precedent of being the largest aid provider has been jeopardized by President Donald Trump’s recent administrative actions. Since his inauguration on Jan. 20, Trump and his staff have cut $60 billion in USAID contracts and have plans to terminate more than 90% of these agreements.
Karlan’s resignation email was motivated by changes to USAID, among others. Karlan was placed on administrative leave alongside 58 other senior USAID officials a week after the inauguration. He told NPR this was the first sign that he was “witnessing a blueprint for how to dismantle an agency.” He described these changes as “watching psychological warfare against a workforce that has been committed to furthering the lives of other people” in an interview with NPR.
For Karlan, the decision to resign came after seeing mass layoffs to the agency and receiving no response to his willingness to work with officials to identify ways to keep the most cost-effective aid programs running, he said.
Like other subject matter experts, Karlan warns that the dismantling of USAID will leave many people “radically worse off.”
“This level of evisceration is unfathomable and self-defeating to their stated ideals of aligning (USAID) with U.S. foreign policy,” Karlan told NPR.
Email: m.king@dailynorthwestern.com
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